January 2020 – Steampunk

It’s possible that the ancient black wooden door at the front of Steampunk-Shrunk Towers is as old as the building itself. Certainly there is a huge iron key that looks to be many centuries old.

What comings and goings that door must have seen. And certainly there have been plenty in the present month.

Just imagine our amazement when the infamous Dr Oskar Kopp and his ‘enhanced’ assistant Bjørn arrived. They had left us several years ago to accompany a reknowned storyteller and share their tales with her audiences. Now, it seems, the good lady is moving to another continent and asked whether she could return these gentlemen and their laboratory to us.

If you are unfamiliar with their story, you could go to this link and its successor and read about them.

The doctor, we noticed, looked somewhat older and perhaps slightly frail. Bjørn, on the other hand, appears to be thriving with his mechanically enhanced brain and strong clockwork heart. We look forward to hearing about his research into alchemy, when Dr Kopp is out of earshot.

However there have also been some departures.

Augustus Robottom has clearly become disillusioned with the little robots he has been creating. He grabbed a copy of The Time Traveller’s Companion and announced that he was relocating to Alabama.

“But what about these small, er, devices of yours?” Mrs S enquired.

“Confound the things!” he said gruffly. “I suggest sending them over to the Magpie. I think they would fit in well there.”

“Ah yes. Excellent idea,” agreed Mrs S, and she began packing them up to take to the rather wonderful Vintage and Curiosities shop she supplies in Midsomer Norton.

The very next day, Mr Coggleford the furniture restorer and young Jasper, his son and apprentice, told us that they intended to follow in Gus’s footsteps and would be taking one of the time machines as well as one of their finest cabinets with them.

All three will be sorely missed here, but we applaud their ambition and hope that their life in the New World will be most successful.

Now we hear rumours that more ladies and gentlemen will be joining us to once again swell the ranks of Steampunk-Shrunk Towers’ inhabitants. Today, though, with storms raging outside, the massive black door remains firmly shut.

Canyon, River, Landscape, Nature, Water Far off, in a deep meandering gorge in the Archipelagonian mountains, are the caves where the Time Dragons nest.

Ah yes, they are nesting, which means they are breeding. Soon there will be more. Did you not realise, fools, that TIME is no shallow plaything? Retro-futurism indeed! Ah, you can create a time that never was and never has been nor will be, but you do it at your peril.

As you merrily warp and bend and twist time into all manner of strange contrivances, don’t think there isn’t fallout. The seconds and minutes and hours that are squeezed out of your newly fabricated reality congeal together in the darkest unswept corners of your workshops and form around those discarded wires, fabric scraps, watch springs, gears and clock faces. Gradually they begin to take on shape. Wire bends to make claws and wing struts, springs unravel and form tails, paper, foil and packaging maché themselves into heads, limbs and writhing bodies. Bright, beaded eyes flick open, clawed feet scuttle and wings creak and flex in readiness for the journey.

Stealthily they insinuate themselves through the gaps in time caused by your meddling. Laboriously they make their way to the caves that open from those steep and jagged cliffs that form The Gorge. Patiently they coat the cave floors with lost words, clocks and (oh, these are their favourites) glittering watch chains – a hoard fit for a Time Dragon. Now their nests are ready. They have no more need of your detritus. These are independent beings now. They can give birth to new generations and fly forth wheresoever they please.

Perhaps some day a particularly intrepid traveller with a highly innovative airship might venture down into the gorge of which I speak, might peer into the lairs of these remarkable beasts, might spot them perching precariously upon rocks, twisting their sinuous necks and screeching, “Time no longer!” in hoarse, cracked voices.

Perhaps, though, the Time Dragons will venture forth from their sheltered hideaways and return to the lands their ancestors left. Their numbers are increasing and they are becoming bolder. Woe to you then, retro-futurists!

However should you decide to take destiny in your hands and indulge in some dragon-taming, three of these fearsome beasts are available from the SteampunkDollsHouse Etsy shop. Click on their photos to link to the listings. Lairs (as pictured) will also be available shortly.

Month: January 2020

The Black Door

Time Dragons!